Messina joins two incumbents on Ewing school board

EWING — Maria C. Benedetti and Kenneth Bradley held on to their local school board seats, but incumbent Ruth Palmer was ousted by newcomer Anthony Messina, a retired cop and Frank Sinatra aficionado.

Benedetti was the top vote getter with 5,381, or 25 percent. Messina ran second with 4,949 and Bradley kept his seat with 4,146. Palmer, wedged out, received 3,671 votes, and Scott D. Franks Sr. scored 2,752.

It was the first time in history that school board candidates ran on the same November ballot as candidate for local government, instead of in the traditional month April.

In historically Democratic Ewing, an incumbent Dem, Kevin Baxter, and two fresh new faces, lawyers Jennifer Keyes-Maloney and David P. Schroth, were elected to the township council. Keyes-Maloney, a lobbyist for school principals, scored highest with 9,237 votes, one-year incumbent Baxter received 9,029 votes and Schroth got 8,911.

The new council is now set to grapple with the big issues of the township, as well as Republican Mayor Bert Steinmann. All agree something must be done about the wasted GM property and rowdy college students wrecking homes and neighborhoods.